"Although the issue involving the purchase of Renoir paintings by Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and the discovery of a safe in the Tokyo dumps are old issues, as someone seems to have brought it up again on this newsgroup, I am providing the following information for those interested.
CASE OF THE RENOIR PAINTINGS--Since 1991, newspaper and magazine reports in Japan have implied that the Soka Gakkai received a Y 1.5 billion ($15 million) kickback from Mitsubishi Corp. for the purchase by the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum of two Renoir paintings--"Women After Bathing" and "Woman Reading." (And is again being rehashed in the media just prior to the next elections--I wonder why.) However, this is absolutely not the case and Soka Gakkai never received any payment whatsoever from any of the parties involved. (If it was guilty of anything, it was in its extreme naivete in the business negotiations, as can be learned from the following paragraphs.)
In 1989, Soka Gakkai Vice President Yorio Yahiro, who serves as the organization's chief legal counsel (through the date of this e-mail) learned that these paintings would be coming on the market for Y 3.6 billion ($36 million). He passed the information onto the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum which decided to purchase the paintings. However, due to insufficient funds, the Museum sought a trustworthy broker who was financially capable of purchasing the paintings and holding them for future transition to the Museum. Mitsubishi Corp. agreed to facilitate the purchase.
In March 1989, Mitsubishi Corp. delivered checks for Y 3.6 billion to the agent representing the sellers and received in return the receipt, the paintings and certificates of authenticity. The Museum, with support of Soka Gakkai, was then able to acquire the funding necessary to purchase the paintings from Mitsubishi Corp., which it did in September 1990. The purchase price at that time was Y 4.1 billion ($41 million), which included Y 500 million ($5 million) interest. It was later learned that the sellers' original price was only Y 2.1 billion ($21 million), a fact the Soka Gakkai was unaware of at the time. What the sellers chose to do with the money after it was paid by Mitsubishi was beyond the control of the Museum or the Soka Gakkai.
The whereabouts of most of the Y 1.5 billion became clear in June 1993 when the Tokyo District Court handed down five indictments for tax evasion to the agents who had received payment from Mitsubishi. Reiko Tachibana, director of the vase gallery Tachibana, and her staff were indicted for failing to report most of the Y 768 million ($7.68 million) they had received. Suguru Ishihara, president of Art France, another art dealer that had brokered the purchase, was charged with evading taxes on Y 432 million ($4.32 million) of income. Together, the brokers had hidden most of the Y 1.2 billion ($12 million) received from the transaction.
For her crime, Tachibana was sentenced to 10 months in prison and fined Y 18 million ($180,000). The others involved in the case were fined. Prosecutors called off the investigation on the outstanding ´300 million because of inconclusive evidence.
Thus, contrary to accusations, Soka Gakkai was the big loser. In addition to being overcharged for the paintings, it became subject to unwarranted attention in the media.
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DISCOVERY OF A SAFE--A police investigation revealed that a safe containing some Y 170 million ($1.7 million) in cash discovered in June 1989 at a dump near Tokyo, belonged to Mr. Haruo Nakanishi, a former director of the Seikyo Press of Soka Gakkai. The media reported this incident--the strange behavior of one person--and insinuated that the entire organization was somehow at fault. According to Mr. Nakanishi, whose employment has since been terminated, he had been involved in a business on the grounds of the Head Temple Taiseki-ji since 1970, inspite of the fact that the employment agreement with Soka Gakkai prohibited employees from owning and operating a business on the side. He made a profit of some Y 170 million ($1.7 million) over three years, which he kept in his personal safe located in a storeroom in the Seikyo Shimbun building. During a routine inventory and clean-up, the safe was found not to be registered in
the Seikyo Press's inventory log and was sent to the dump as a matter of course.
After the discovery of the safe and the money in it, Mr. Nakanishi admitted his mistake and offered his apologies. He has since donated all the money to the Red Cross. Soka Gakkai President Einosuke Akiya said at the time: "I am very sorry that such an unimaginable incident has occurred to disturb many people. The Soka Gakkai has always been very strict about its handling of money and personnel matters. Because of this tradition, the Gakkai has gained profound trust from its membership and society at large. However, this reputation was damaged because, regrettably enough, it was found that a leader of the Soka Gakkai Headquarters was involved in this incident. Many sincere members must be wondering why such a thing could happen. I empathize with them and apologize deeply."
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The above information is being contributed by some concerned SGI members who plan to try to make small contributions to this newsgroup when time allows. Many points of contention, however (like doctrinal and philosophical ones), can be argued over relentlessly without a compromise.
Contrary to what some have said on this newsgroup, the staff for Soka Gakkai's website is small. Most of their time is spent updating the website and answering e-mail sent to the website. In the evenings, besides their personal activities, they (as SGI members worldwide tend to do) participate in SGI discussion meetings and study meetings and other SGI gatherings.
"More valuable than the treasures of the storehouse are the treasures of the body, and the treasures of the heart are the most valuable of all. From the time you read this letter on, strive to accumulate the treasures of the heart! (Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Volume 2, page 279)
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